WSN Service

SRINAGAR: Troops and armor are being amassed all along the 1200 km Indo-Pakistan border according to reports; According to Official sources here Pakistani troops had opened fire in Rajouri sector several times. In Samba and Kargil also there were reports of indiscriminate firing by both the armies.

The chief of India’s army staff General VN Sharma here on Feb 1 declared that nobody would be allowed to violate the line of actual control in Jammu and Kashmir adding that the army was geared to protect the border whatever be the cost.

Referring to threats held out by Pakistan Kashmiri leaders of sending out armed personnel across the line of control, the army chief said, they would get a hot reception.

Kashmir a predominately Muslim state is fighting for independence from India. In 1947 India and Pakistan armies occupied portions of Kashmir. UN intervention was to no avail.

Both sides however, are denying that their armies were on maximum alert. Sahahzada Yaqub Khan Pakistan foreign Minister while saying the Kashmir issue was very much alive and needed immediate attention” denied any troop movements on the border. He said his country wanted to avoid any conflict, confrontation or war with India he went on to assert Pakistan was free to raise the issue at UN. Pakistan had also approached China on the issue.

ISLAMABAD: Earlier in the week speaking at a dinner in honor of 5 dignitaries of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Islamabad, Mr. Khan said that “force was being used to suppress the freedom movement in Kashmir and this pained the Kashmiris very much. Our heart bleeds for their misery. The objective for which they have waged this struggle cannot be crushed like this.”

Rejecting the Indian stand that Kashmir was an integral part of India, Mr. Khan demanded that the people of Kashmir be allowed to exercise the right of self-determination in accordance with the UN resolution,

Pak Govt advisor on foreign affairs and national security Iqbal Akund said the basic objective of out. Khan’s recent visit was to inform India that all disputes between the two countries must be sorted out peacefully.

The daily Jang has assured Pakistan of Beijing’s positive role if the Kashmir issue was raised in the UN.

Pak opposition disappointed

Leader of the combined opposition parties in the National Assembly Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi has described the recent statement of Kashmir as “disappointing.”

Jatoi told a Pakistani news agency that the foreign minister had not stated anything “new.” It was “lip sympathy” for the Kashmiris from the present government, he said.

Describing the Kashmir issue as “very delicate”, he said the opposition parties would discuss it threadbare in the national assembly session beginning on Monday.

He said the policy of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party on Kashmir was “lukewarm.”

Secretary General of the Pakistan Muslim League Iqbal Ahmad Khan has stated that the foreign minister’s speech did not present any clear cut policy on the Kashmir issue.

Lt Gen (RETD) Jahan Dad Khan, a former governor of Sindh Kashmir province felt that there could be no military solution to the Kashmir problem and both India and Pakistan would have to find a political solution. Both the countries should try and avoid reaching a flash point, he stressed.

Meanwhile Iqbal Akund, said Pakistan was considering all options to seek a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute.

Akhund said it was totally wrong to assume that the Shimla accord did not permit Pakistan to seek the indulgence of the world body over the issue. “Pakistan will not accept any pressure if it decides to go to the United Nations,” he said.

Pakistan has been raising the bogey of Kashmir; one third of which it now occupies and controls, at almost every international meet, including the U.N India has been countering this campaign by reminding Pakistan that the issue was a bilateral one. This has been a constant refrain in the Indian press.

The prime minister of Azad Kashmir Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan called on President Ghulam Ishaq Khanat the Aiwan E Sadr to apprise him of the Kashmir situation.

Voicing his view on the issue after a long gap, president Khan expressed concern over the “alarming” situation in the state and assured the leader of Pakistan’s continued support to the right of “self-determination” of the Kashmiri people.

Meanwhile following reports of an increase in militant activities in Azad Kashmir security measures have been intensified.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 9, 1990